Heritage
by Baku97
Summary: The Nidaime Hokage was known to be calm and calculative, not the type to fall into a secret love affair. Minato Namikaze an oprhan with no ties to any prominant clans. But what if things weren't quite as they seem, and what would this mean for a certain hyperactive blond? Slight A/U. Sensor & water/wind affinity Naruto. Good Sasuke. Pairings TBD.
1. Prologue

Yo! Out with a new story.

Only just thought this up today wrote this epilogue style intro chapter - i'm still undecided as to whether to continue it but you know, i enjoy writting them out.

Enjoy!

* * *

Konohagakure – First shinobi war period

"Don't go, Tobi-kun," a woman whispered, her blue eyes shimmering with threatening tears.

"I have to, you know that," His eyes fell on the naked form of his lover, "It's my duty."

"Fuck your duty," she said, her fingers playing with the locks of her blond hair, a small pout on her lips.

He grinned, a rare commodity for anyone who knew him personally, "Natsuki, there's a war going on. The village needs me."

"Fuck the village! Fuck the war!" Her eyes locked onto his and staring into those cerulean orbs he found his breath hitch, "I want you to stay."

' _Damn this woman_ ' he thought to himself out of love and not spite.

The man sat down by the edge of the futon and caressed the girl's cheek with a calloused hand, "You know I'm going to go." The girl turned her face into his hand but averted her eyes, "You know this Natsuki. I cannot leave the village unprotected. This village is my brother and I's creation. What kind of Kage would I be? What kind of man would I be?" She nodded dumbly accepting his words.

"Tobi-kun I-" he looked at her curiously as she tested the words in her mouth.

"What is it?"

The woman looked at him, an expression crossing her eyes that he couldn't decipher, "It's nothing," she breathed before rolling over and pressing her face into the pillow, the sheets covering her falling to the small of back revealing her smooth tanned.

The man watched on with wandering eyes that trailed up from the dimples on her lower back, to the mounds of flesh that could be seen pressed against the mattress and the strands of hair that lay in disarray.

"I love you, Natsuki."

"I know, you idiot," she mumbled into the pillow.

He nodded his eyes on the floor and stood slowly, running a hand through his grey white hair, "I'm leaving," he said.

The girl didn't show any sign of hearing and instead hugged the pillow underneath her tighter.

"Goodbye, Natsuki-chan," He admitted his farewell.

Soft feet padded across the tatami mat floor before the sound of a door sliding open and then clicking shut echoed throughout the now silent room.

Embraced in that silence that the girl had grown to hate, the tears that had once threatened to fall now streamed down her cheeks freely damping the soft material under her.

Rolling over, she brought her hands to her stomach and smiled a watery smile.

"Looks like it's just me and you kid."

* * *

Konohagakure – Second shinobi war period

"Arashi-kun! You can't just leave!" The girl pleaded, cradling her bulging stomach.

"Don't look at me that way woman, you knew this day was coming." The man stated emotionally, his black eyes cold and uncaring.

"But, what about the child?" The man's eyes drifted to her stomach before he turned away.

"I do not wish to be responsible for a child of ninja heritage." He replied succinctly, his lips tightening into a thin line.

"How could you say such a thing?" She gasped in disbelief, "He is of your blood!"

"That is of no consequence, whether he holds my blood or not is irrelevant." The man span on his heels and made for the door.

"Wait, Arashi." He stopped and looked over his shoulder, "Don't you still love me?" She asked, as if giving her whole self to the question.

The man simply smirked a cruel, sad smile, "Foolish woman," He opened the door and gazed directly into her red eyes, "I never loved you."

The door slammed shut and the woman fell to her knees, fresh hot tears streaming down her tanned cheeks.

She held her pregnant belly and leant forward, her forehead touching against the hard wooden floor. Salty liquid dripped from her face and fell through the cracks in the floorboard as she wept openly, absorbed by the sudden enormity of having to raise a child alone in a death filled world.

* * *

"Narumi-san, I need you to give me one last push!" A nurse stressed as she looked up from between the legs of the woman, her eyes laced with worry.

Screams echoed throughout the room as the woman exerted all her strength into giving life to her child. Her matted white hair was sodden with sweat and clung to her face. Her eyebrows furrowed in a permanent grimace, eyelids closed and mouth scrunched.

Suddenly, paired with the relief of a mountain being lifted off her shoulders, a sharp wail cut throughout the room.

"That's it!" The nurse shouted as she retrieved the bloody babe in a white towel and wrapped it thoroughly, "Congratulations, Narumi-san." She wiped the child down, and approached the pained woman, "Your new baby boy."

Narumi took him in her arms and felt a warmth spread throughout her chest that was unparalleled to any feeling she'd ever felt before. The overwhelming affection and love completely outweighed the pain that coursed through her body.

The wailing stopped as the steady bleep of the heartbeat monitor began to slow.

Red puffy eyes opened and revealed blue cerulean orbs that shone like the sparkling ocean on a sunny day.

"My little boy." She whispered as she brought up her hand and stroked his soft cheek with the back or her finger.

"We're losing her!" A shout suddenly sounded, but the woman didn't hear.

"My little boy" She repeated, delirious from the pain and anaesthesia, "Namikaze Minato," her eyes watered and tears bled down her cheeks, "Grow up strong, Mommy loves you."

Despite the sound of shouting midwives and scrambling doctors, the woman let a soft smile grace her lips as a steady haunting flat line pierced the chaos of the room.

"Looks like it's all you kid."

* * *

Konohagakure – Peace time

"Naruto, you've got to pay more attention in class. How do you expect to become a shinobi if you never attend your lessons?" A black haired teacher scolded with his arms folded in front of him.

The boy in question simply huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets before mumbling something unintelligible.

"What was that? You're going to have to speak up Naruto or I can't help you." His sensei watched with black eyes as the blond squirmed under his gaze

"I said, it doesn't matter anyway." He shrugged and looked down at his feet, "None of the other teachers mark my work when I hand it in and just give me a bad grade anyway. And whenever I ask questions they just make me look stupid." Iruka's gaze turned sympathetic, "And I'm not stupid! I know I have some difficulty readin' but that's just cause no one ever taught me! This whole academy's stupid."

Iruka sighed, a pained expression corssing his face, "Look Naruto, I'll have a word with Hokage-sama about the teachers and-"

"No! Don't, Iruka-sensei!" the blond looked up urgently, his gaze turning sheepish, "If they get told off by the old man then they'll just hate me more and find new ways to sapotage my ninja training."

"It's 'sabotage' Naruto." Iruka smiled softly at his student.

"Huh?"

"It's 'sabotage', not 'sapotage'" He explained.

"Oh" the blond's expression turned downcast.

"Look Naruto, if you're having problems in class, I could give you some tips outside of the academy if you want." Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Really? You'd do that sensei?" He exclaimed happily.

"Sure Naruto. Just ask whenever and we'll meet after lessons finish for the day." Iruka smiled at the boy's enthusiasm.

It was sad really. To see such a simple gesture bring so much happiness.

"Thanks, Iuaka-sensei, it really means a lot." The man looked at the boy. He knew he meant it.

"Alright, I've got to do some marking so why don't you run along and get some training done." He suggested.

"Sure thing sensei, see you tomorrow!" Naruto grinned as he gave his teacher a wave and exited the classroom.

Stepping out into the cool evening he sighed. An autumn breeze swept through the streets of Konoha and picked up burnt orange leaves that lay stranded on the dusty ground.

Naruto loved autumn. It was easily his favourite season.

He meandered his way through the streets lazily, ignoring the blatant glares and hushed comments.

Soon, the streets that were sided with quaint wooden houses and stores gave way to fields of grassy greens and forestry. The earth was littered with a plethora of yellow and orange, the trees like they bore fruits of pure gold.

The sound of kunai hitting wood reached Naruto's ears.

He followed it through the maze of trees until he came to a small clearing where he found a boy with black hair that fell down in spikes. He wore plain beige shorts and a blue high coloured t-shirt with the red and white fan crest on the back.

"Sasuke…" He whispered to himself as he watched the boy mercilessly launch the weapons at the tree opposite him.

To Naruto, Sasuke was a confusing person. The boy was cold, ruthless and incredibly arrogant. However underneath the showboating and the patronising smirks he saw a loneliness that he had only seen in himself, a thirst for acceptance and praise. He was aware of the Uchiha massacre. Everyone in Konoha was. He still remembered the when it happened. The whole of Konoha seemed to slip into a period of mourning. The stares, beatings and insults stopped for a short while. Sasuke wasn't in class for a month.

Naruto noticed the boy's hands were bloodied and wrapped poorly in bandages. It looked as though he had been training for a long time, and hard.

Absorbed in the show of skill, the blond failed to notice that he had been leaning forward slowly and suddenly found himself falling, landing face first in a pile of leaves sending up a small plume of orange and yellow.

A kunai whizzed over his head and implanted its self into a thick trunk behind him.

"Who's there?" Sasuke called out, his brow knitted in a curious anger.

"Ah Sasuke-teme watch where you're throwing those things you coulda killed me!" The blond shouted as he brought himself to his feet, brushing down his trousers.

"Oh it's just you Naruto." Sasuke said crossing his arms, "You should be more careful, you'll get yourself killed one day." He smirked.

Naruto scoffed, "Yeah right, I ain't dying till I'm the Hokage."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, "Sure, keep dreaming dead last."

He frowned at the black haired boys words but said nothing. Honestly he was tired of being called the dead last for something that was completely out of his control.

"Well? What do you want? I'm busy training here." Sasuke frowned, visibly annoyed by the disruption to his training.

"Nothing really," Naruto shrugged, "I was gonna do some training myself and I heard some noises so I thought I'd check them out." He looked around the clearing before pausing and glancing carefully at a particular tree branch.

"Look dobe, I don't have time for your antics. Unlike some people, I'm actually trying to be a ninja." He bit back, uncaring of the hurt that flashed in the blond's eyes.

"Yeah well I'd like to see you train without any help or any instructions!" Naruto shouted back, his eyes narrowing at the black haired boy.

"What are you talking about dobe? We get plenty of instruction at the academy." The Uzumaki simply rolled his eyes, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Yeah course the village's golden boy does, but not me! Bet you don't even notice that my grades come back the same regardless of what answers I give, or that not one of the teachers answer my questions!" The blond smirked when he saw the conflicted expression that suddenly crossed the Uchiha's face.

"That can't be right, are you sure you're not just an idiot?" Sasuke asked, almost to himself.

"I'm not an idiot!" Naruto replied angrily.

"Sure thing, dobe." Sasuke muttered dismissively.

He let out a grunt of annoyance at the black haired boy's tone before pointing off into the trees, "Fine! If I was an idiot, how would I know that there's one of those mask guys watching you in that tree over there?" He declared.

Sasuke turned and looked at the area the blond was pointing to with a raised eyebrow, "Dobe, there's no one there. Are you delusional as well as idiotic?" He asked with a sly grin.

"Alright then teme, throw a kunai at it then. If no one's there, I'll admit that I'm a dead last, if they are there you have to let me train with you."

Sasuke stared at the boy blankly before sighing, "Fine, and you'll leave me alone also?" He added.

"Yeah yeah I'll leave you alone." Naruto waved his hand in front of him.

"Alright well where is he?" The Uchiha asked.

"Umm," The blond stared into the trees for a moment, "He's over there now, he's moved slightly." The blond pointed off into the corner of the clearing to a partially obscured branch.

Sasuke, not one for wasting time, quickly launched a kunai in the direction of the branch. Shortly before the projectile entered the foliage, a black blur shot out of the trees with a rustle of the leaves.

Onyx eyes widened in awe as Uchiha looked back at the blond who stood standing with a smug grin on his face, "How did you-" His mouth snapped shut as he frowned, "Does this mean we have to-"

"Yep" Naruto grinned happily, "I look forward to workin' with ya, partner."

Today was a good day for Uzumaki Naruto.

He loved autumn.

* * *

"And you are sure they noticed you." The Sandaime frowned as he leaned forward onto the large wooden desk, hands clasped before his face.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Uzumaki pointed out my location and Uchiha threw a kunai that would have hit me had I not moved." The man confirmed, the white mask on his face vaguely portraying a cat in red paint.

"And do tell why you simply didn't evade the kunai without being seen?" The Hokage asked, and got the vague impression that the man was smirking under his mask.

"The Uzumaki boy made a bet with the Uchiha." Sarutobi rose an eyebrow, "Uchiha did not believe that Uzumaki could detect someone when he couldn't so, they made a wager. If there was someone there, they would train together, and if there was no one, Uzumaki would admit that he is the dead last and leave Uchiha alone. I concluded their cooperation would be beneficial for the village."

Understanding the man's logic, he gave a confirming nod as he relaxed, spinning to the side in his chair.

Now he was the one grinning. He had to admire the man's quick reasoning, he doubted many ANBU would have done the same.

The old man then sighed before dropping some tobacco into the pipe that sat on the oak surface of his desk. He lit the pipe and brought it to his lips, taking a long, weary drag. Exhaling the smoke he watched as it drifted lazily into the expanse of the office.

"Cat." He called out, demanding the ANBUs attention.

"Yes, sir?"

"How do you suppose Naruto-kun was able to detect your presence? Considering you're a jounin level ANBU."

"I'm not quite sure Hokage-sama," He paused, for a moment, "I can only conclude that he has a strong sensor ability."

The Hokage paused with another slight nod, humming lightly in response.

"And who was the last known Konoha shinobi to weild such a strong affinity to sensory abilities." Sarutobi asked again, a hint of mirth lacing his voice.

The ANBU took a moment to think, "Well, there have been many sensors who have gone through the Konoha ranks… However, when you factor in that Uzumaki is but a child, a poorly trained child at that, to be able to sense a high level shinobi… I'd say the last person I recall would be the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama, if the stories of his prowess are true that is."

The Sandaime nodded thoughtfully and let another cloud of smoke disperse throughout the room.

"That'll be all Cat, you are dismissed." The man nodded and disappeared in dark blur.

The Hokage span in his chair and looked out over the village, a small grin gracing his aged lips.

"Tobirama you old dog."

* * *

Yo! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Any opinions/criticisms welcome just post a review.

Don't forget to fave/follow if you're feeling it.

Peace!


	2. The sun and moon

Yo hears chapter two! Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, its much appreciated. With regards to the pairings - i dont want to make any decisions yet but i will say it wont be a conventional pairing (hinata, sakura eg.) cause they get boring after a while no?

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

The bell rang and students began filing out the academy and into the playground where parents and relatives were stood waiting. Naruto strolled out slightly behind the crowd hands in pockets. He was used to the rush by now. It used to be hard, seeing all his classmates being greeted with open arms when he had no one to greet him.

"What are you mopping around for dobe, let's go." A voice called out from in front of him.

Sasuke stood his arms crossed in front of his chest, wearing his perpetual 'mysterious cool kid' look as Naruto had so eloquently dubbed it.

"Hai hai, give me a chance," he replied easily as he walked towards the black haired boy.

Their interactions caused some attention from the crowd as students and relatives alike stared at the deadlast pariah Uzumaki Naruto casually talk with the villages last Uchiha, a theoretical prince of the shinobi world.

As Naruto filled in next to Sasuke and they began their stroll out of the academy, a rushing of footsteps could be heard before Naruto was toppled over by two small, female forms.

"Sasuke-kun!" One shouted, her voice high and hard on the ear, "My mum wants to know if you want to come over for dinner tonight?" Her blond hair swished to side in its ponytail as she brought her hands behind her back.

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted, "Or I was thinking you could come over to mine Sasuke-kun, my parents are getting take out!" The other girl added, slightly quieter, a faint blush grazing her cheeks.

"Jeez teme, if this is what you have to deal with all the time I feel sorry for ya!" Naruto giggled foxily to himself from the ground. He brushed himself off while sat on the floor.

The Uchiha looked around the two girls at the prone boy, "Dobe, how do you expect to get better if you're being knocked over by these two?"

The blond scoffed playfully in response, "Ha, teme, I felt them coming from a mile away," He hopped to his feet and grinned, "But what was I gonna do, kick em over? I can't do that!"

"Don't call Sasuke-kun a teme Naruto-baka!"

"Yeah!"

"You could have dodged?" The blond paused before scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh yeah," He laughed, "Anyway, let's go! We've got training to do! Dreams to reach!" Naruto fist pumped the air and strode forward away from the trio.

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe he was stuck training with the deadlast. However, it could be worse. He could be training with one of his fangirls.

He looked to the side to see the two girls caught between glaring at the blond's back and giving him heart shaped eyes.

A shiver ran up his spine.

Besides, he was fairly interested in how the blond was able to sense the ANBU that follows him around everywhere. He was aware of who they were since his… brother, had been in the organisation, and knew how highly trained they were.

Sasuke walked towards to the blond's retreating form, ignoring the pestering calls from the girls behind him and the pity-filled, uncertain stares from the rest of the playground.

At least he'd get away from the looks for a while

* * *

"None?"

"Yep."

"You don't any jutsu other than the academy ones?"

"Yeap."

"Not even some shuriken jutsu or taijutsu technique?"

"Nope."

Naruto grinned happily as Sasuke frowned in anger, "Well what do you expect? Where would I get or learn from them from, I can't just make everything up from scratch."

"I suppose you're right…" the black haired boy managed, as if admitting the words was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

"And I bet you get to use all your clan jutsu, that's why you know more," Naruto shook his head comically as he crossed his arms in front of him, "Not everyone's got a whole load of scrolls they can just learn from whenever they want you know."

Sasuke's frown deepened. The blond was right again. This was becoming a disturbing trend.

"So what kind of jutsu do you know?" He asked in genuine curiosity causing the boy's frown to lessen, "do you know any big fire techniques?" He quickly added.

"Actually, I do." The Uchiha smirked.

"Really! Show me!" Naruto practically bounced on his feet in excitement, he'd never seen an actual fire jutsu before, but they'd always been on the forefront of his mind.

"Fine. Calm down would you dobe? You're going to give me a headache." Sasuke muttered, and began walking through the forested train area.

"Huh? Where are we going?" the blond asked.

"I can't show you it here, can I dobe? I'll burn the whole forest down." Naruto formed an 'o' with his mouth as his eyes widened slightly.

"Yeah that makes sense."

The pair made their way out of the training area until they reached a river. They followed the paved path that ran alongside it and Sasuke noticed his new blond companion seemed a lot calmer by the water. No longer looking like he was on a permanent sugar rush, he had a serene smile on his face as he watched the water flow down the canal.

After a few minutes, they reached a small wooden deck that stretched out onto the water. Reaching the end Sasuke looked back at the blond.

"You ready, dobe?" He asked, a sly grin on his face.

"Uh huh!" the blond nodded quickly.

Sasuke turned back to face the water. Then, running through a serious of hand seals and finishing in the tiger seal, he took a deep breath and exhaled a medium sized fireball that burned over the water, giving it an orange glow before dispersing in a flicker of flames.

He looked back at the blond with a smug look on his face, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

"Sugoi! That was amazing Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, "Can you teach me that? Can ya? Please?" He clasped his hands in front of him and squinted his eyes.

Sasuke beamed at the praise, not used to being complimented. He quickly caught himself however and coughed dismissively before turning his shoulder on the blond.

"Pfft, sorry dobe but that's an Uchiha clan technique." He watched Naruto's face drop and felt something twinge inside, "But you can't learn it anyway cause you probably don't have a fire affinity anyway." He quickly added.

"Affinity? What's that?" The Uzumaki questioned, his head tilting slightly.

The black haired boy rolled his eyes, "Jeez, dobe do you know anything," Naruto frowned, his brow furrowed as he gazed directly into the boys eyes, "Anyway, an affinity is what elemental chakra someone can learn the easiest." He explained slowly, having never described the definition before.

"Okay…" the blond nodded, "So what's your affinity?"

"Fire."

"How do you know its fire?"

"Because I'm an Uchiha."

"Oh," Naruto paused thoughtfully, "So how do I figure out my chakra affinity?" he asked.

"I think… I think you can use a piece of paper that tells you." Sasuke said carefully.

"Right." The Uzumaki paused for a second, "Have you ever used this chakra paper thingy?"

Sasuke frowned, "No,"

"Then how do you know your affinity is fire?"

"Because I'm an Uchiha."

"Okayyyy." Naruto drawled out, "Well after training I'm gonna ask jiji for some of that chakra paper, I bet he'll have some!"

"Jiji?" Sasuke asked, his brow still furrowed.

"Yeah, the old man!"

"What old man?"

"The man with the hat!" Naruto exclaimed with a wide grin as he pointed his thumb behind him at the carved faces of the Hokage Mountain.

"You mean the Sandaime Hokage?"

Now the blond rolled his eyes, "Well duh, who else wears the big hat."

"Dobe, you can't refer to the Hokage as jiji." Sasuke scolded.

"Why not?" the boy seemed genuinely confused.

"Because he's the Hokage, it's disrespectful." Naruto watched the black haired Uchiha with squinted eyes before shrugging to himself.

"Whatever, let's go see him after we get some ramen anyway."

"Hn." Sasuke replied before watching the boy happily walk off, "Wait what?"

* * *

"Yo Teuchi oji-san! I'll have a miso ramen." The blond grinned as he ducked under the sheeted doorway into the stand.

"Naruto my boy! One miso ramen coming up!" He shouted welcomingly and began preparing ingredients. Looking up he noticed another rather uncertainty boy enter shortly afterwards, "And who's your friend here?" He asked, inwardly pleased that the blond had company.

"Huh? Oh that's just Sasuke, he's acts like a teme but he's okay really," He sat down on the stool, "We're gonna be training together!"

Sasuke gave a non-committal 'hn' and climbed onto the stool next the blond.

"That so?" The chef's eyes drifted to the black haired boy, he had heard of him of course. Everyone had knew the last Uchiha, "So what'll it be?" He asked.

"I'll have the same as the dobe." Sasuke grunted, not taking a look at the menu.

Teuchi rose an eyebrow at the demeaning nickname but caught Naruto's eye and the boy gave a short shake of the head, "Alright then, two miso ramen coming up."

Naruto sat happily humming to himself, swinging his legs beneath him.

Sasuke on the other hand was conflicted. When he agreed to train with the boy he thought he'd just leave it at that. Train, then they'd go their separate ways and he'd be allowed to be alone again. However something about the hyperactive deadlast made him stay. He piqued the boy's curiosity. Hidden behind the happy go-lucky façade and the playful idiot was a boy like him. Alone with no one to go home to.

"Sasukeeeee, Sasuke? Sasugayyyyy." The Uchiha was broken out of musings by a hand flailing in front of his face and Naruto's taunts. He looked up and saw a girl in her teens giggling as she cooked behind the counter. Her brown hair tied into a ponytail, a white chef's bandana covering her fringe, "Sasuke you in there? I want you to meet Ayame nee-chan."

The boy's eyes met the girls and she smiled warmly, "Nice to meet you Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun talks about you from time to time."

"Wha- I do not!" Naruto protested, his hands on the counter.

"Sure sure, Naruto-kun," She leaned close to the Uchiha over the counter with her hand shielding her mouth from the blond, "He does, but don't tell him i told you, it'll be our secret," she winked playfully before leaning back and resuming her cooking with a content smile on her face.

Sasuke felt his cheeks warm slightly as his chest fluttered slightly. Looking down he concentrated on his feet.

Naruto looked at the boy oddly, "You alright teme," the Uchiha looked up at the blond sharply for huffing and averting his eyes.

"Fine."

The Uzumaki looked curiously at the boy, his eyes flicking between his red tinted cheeks and the young ramen chef. Then, with a knowing grin, Naruto nudged Sasuke with his elbow, raising his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"What're you doing dobe?" The boy questioned, his voice not quite as harsh as he would have liked.

"Nothing~" Naruto sang in response as he went back to humming and swinging his legs.

Saske clicked his teeth, "Damn dobe." the blond grinned, before looking oevr at the young ramen chef.

"Hey Ayame nee-chan, I think Sasuke likeessss youuuu." He drawled out playfully a cheeky grin gracing his lips.

"Dobe!" He punched the blond on the arm as the the red hue covering his pale skin intesified.

"Naruto-kun, stop teasing the poor boy!" Ayame scolded and turned to look at the Uchiha who couldn't make eye contact with the teen, "Just ignore him Sasuke-kun, if it's any consolation i like you a lot too." She smiled and ruffled the boys hair affectionately.

Naruto watched unsure whether Ayame realised the effect she was having on the raven haired boy as he squirmed under the contact breaking the ever 'cool' broody Uchiha look.

"Food's here!" Teuchi exclaimed, tactfully breaking the tension as he slammed down two steaming bowls.

Sasuke sighed in relief at the distraction. Girls were scary.

The two dug into their ramen and before Sasuke had a chance to finish his first, Naruto was onto his second.

"So Sasuke, what did you think of the ramen?" Naruto asked with a mouth full of noodles.

"Hn," He replied but looked up and saw Ayame watching him curiously, "I mean, it's good." He corrected before continuing to eat with renewed vigour.

After the two had finished their meals, they each payed at hopped off their stools.

"So, let's head to Jiji's office and get those paper thingies!" Naruto shouted mostly to himself.

The black haired boy sighed, "I'm not going with you to the Hokage's office just so you can embarrass yourself and get kicked out dobe."

"What? Why not? The old man won't mind." The blond asked confused.

"Cause I don't have time for your made up friends!" Sasuke growled out.

Naruto frowned and found the boy's words hurting more than he had thought they would. He was used to being insulted, however the words coming from Sasuke meant more.

"Fine then teme, don't believe me!" He quickly turned around and began walking away, "I guess I'll just go spend time with all my fake friends."

Sasuke didn't move as he watched the blond turn a corner down a side street and couldn't help the grating feeling that he was ruining his chance of developing a genuine friendship.

* * *

"Jiji! It's me, Naruto!" Hiruzen smiled and shook his head as he heard the childish calls from behind the door. Listening, the sound of his receptionist arguing with someone drifted into the office followed by a few quick bangs on the door.

"It's okay Sumiko, you can let the boy in," He called over the noise.

The door opened and a bespectacled face leant its way around the door, "I'm sorry Hokage-sama, he was very insistent on seeing you and wouldn't take no for an answer." She said, her brown hair falling either side of her face.

Suddunly a mop of blond hair appeared under the woman as Nartuto squeezed his way through the small gap in the door.

"Yatta! I'm in." He exclaimed as he crashed onto the floor.

"You-! You can't barge in here like that."

"Sumiko-chan, it's okay, that'll be all." Hiruzen assured.

The receptionist gave one last hesitant look at the boy who was grinning happily on the floor before retreating from the office.

"Who's the lady Jiji?" The boy asked as he got to his feet.

"That's my new receptionist."

"What happened to the old one?" He asked.

"I had to relieve her from her duties due to," He looked down at the boy, "Well, you know why."

"Yeah she was mean." Naruto affirmed with a nod of the head.

"Anyway, Naruto-kun, what can I do for you?" Hiruzen asked smiling kindly.

"I want some special paper!"

"Special paper?"

"Yeah, like ninja paper!"

"You mean chakra paper?" The Hokage asked, a playful grin forming.

"Yea!" Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Why do you want chakra paper, Naruto?"

"Cause I wanna learn if I can breathe fire or create mountains or fly!" Hiruzen laughed and the boy frowned at his reaction.

"I suppose I could give you some," He replied, "However, only if you share them Sasuke-kun."

Naruto's mouth dropped slightly, "How'd you-" he looked at the crystal ball that was sat on the desk and gasped, "Jiji have you been using your ero no jutsu again?"

The older man blushed slightly, and sighed, "It's not an ero no jutsu Naruto-kun," He paused, "But yes."

Naruto looked at the man before shrugging. It didn't really matter to him, "That's fine Jiji I was gonna give him one anyway."

"Oh? But I thought you had an argument?" He asked.

"We did, but the teme is a teme so it's hard for him not to be a teme you know?" The blond explained sagely.

"Yes I think I understand." Hiruzen laughed before reaching into his top draw and taking out two pieces of small rectangular paper, "These are chakra papers, do you know how they work?" The blond shook his head, "Well, all you have to do is channel your chakra into them and your elemental affinity will be revealed."

"How do I know what's what?"

The man smiled and continued, "Well, if you have a fire affinity the paper will burn and turn to ash, if lightning it'll crumple into a ball, if earth it with crumble and fall apart, if water it'll get wet and if it is wind, it'll be cut down the middle. Did you get that, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah I think so…" The boy trailed off, his head tilted as though still processing the words.

"Also Naruto-kun, I heard you were able to detect an ANBU member the other day." Hiruzen added carefully.

The blond shrugged nonchalantly, "Yeah, I sense em round all the time."

"Really now?"

"Yeah, they're always about hopping all the place or just sitting still for a real long time," The boy pulled a face and hunched his shoulders as if portraying a long time, "normally I don't say anything though, no one in the academy would believe me anyway if I said there were masked men watching in the trees," He grinned sheepishly, "I don't need any more reasons to be teased you know."

Hiruzen nodded sadly in acceptance, "How does it feel when you sense these people Naruto-kun."

"Whaddya mean?"

The man took a moment to consider his words, "When you feel, say a 'masked man' in a tree, what do they feel like?"

"I dunno I just know they're there if I think about it," Naruto paused his mouth moving slowly, "I guess, when I think about it, I can sense other stuff like trees and buildings and ramen, but when something new comes along, I can feel it entering into my space."

"Your space?"

"Yeah my space. That's what I call it."

Hiruzen frowned not quiet understanding, "What is this 'space' Naruto?"

"It's just the space around me where I can feel what's going on, and if someone comes into it, I can feel em." He grinned happily, "it's gotten bigger too, ever since a started at the academy."

The Hokage leant back in his chair, "That's a very interesting talent you have their Naruto-kun," He reached forward to a lower draw in his desk, pausing midway, "Have you told anyone about this technique?"

Naruto shook his head and Hiruzen nodded before pulling open the draw and taking out medium sized scroll. Biting his thumb, he let a drop of blood fall onto the parchment and a web of intricate black symbols appeared before fading into the paper. He then pushed the scroll across the table.

"For me?" Naruto asked, pointing to himself with his index finger.

The old man nodded, "Yes Naruto-kun, for you."

"What is it?"

"It is a scroll containing some techniques I have gathered that I believe you may find useful." He explained calmly.

The boy's eyes lit up in a childish glee, "Like super cool jutsu?"

The man laughed, "Yes, in way," Naruto looked down on at the scroll in awe, "Within the scroll contains a description of how to improve your sensor ability, a taijutsu style, and finally a couple of elemental jutsu as a treat."

The blond's eyes grew watery, "Old man!" He jumped onto the desk and hugged the old man, "You won't regret this, I'm gonna be the Hokage one day so you can retire and relax your old man bones and perv using your ero no jutsu!" He declared through a watery smile.

The Hokage smiled unsurely and let out a withered laugh, "...I don't doubt you will Naruto-kun" he picked the boy up of his lap and placed him on the ground, "Now why don't you run along and get some sleep, this old man's still got work to do."

"Sure thing, Jiji," He shouted as he ran to the door, "You better keep that seat warm for me!"

"I will Naruto-kun, I will."

* * *

The next day, Sasuke didn't speak a word to Naruto. Not that the blond approached him either. Naruto was unusually quiet and Sasuke was especially broody. So much so that his usual gaggle of fan girls avoided him, and many in the class rose an eyebrow at the blond. The lessons themselves were relatively uneventful: history, shinobi tactics, information gathering and more history. During the lunch breaks both boys sat by themselves, Sasuke out of choice and Naruto due to his lack of companions.

After lessons had finished for the day, the blond found a lone Sasuke stood outside the academy. Approaching him, Naruto stopped and simply lingered next to him. Then digging into his pocket, he took out the small piece of chakra paper.

"Here." He said.

"What's that?" The black haired boy asked frowning harshly.

"It's chakra paper you teme," Naruto answer with a roll of the eyes, "You gonna take it or not?"

"… How'd you get it?"

"I asked the Hokage for it."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the boy, "So you actually know the Hokage personally?"

"Yeah! I said I did didn't I."

The Uchiha shrugged, "You lie all the time, how am I supposed to know?"

Naruto frowned in anger, "When do I ever lie teme! I never lie!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to respond before closing it. He realised that despite the blond's loud and in-your-face personality, he never did lie. He did shout about how he was going to be the Hokage all the time, but that was more of a promise than a lie.

Noticing Naruto was still holding out the paper, he hastily snatched it out of his hand.

"Alright!" the blond nodded, "Now if you're done being a teme can we go train?" He asked without wanting to hear a response and simply walking his way to the training ground where they'd first met.

When they arrived, Naruto plunked himself into the floor and waited for a brooding Sasuke to join him, "So… How does this work?"

The Uzumaki grinned at his question, knowing it must have ate the Uchiha up in side to admit he didn't something, "Well just channel your chakra into the paper and I'll tell ya what you got!" He grinned.

Frowning, Sasuke channelled a small stream a chakra into the paper and widened is eyes as it immediately crumpled into a small ball before a flame burst out and turned it ash. He looked up at the blond expectantly.

"Hah! I knew it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Knew what?

"That your main affinity wasn't fire!" He hummed to himself, pleased with his theory.

"What do you mean it's not fire? It burned didn't it?" Sasuke frowned as he looked down at the small pile of black ash on the grassy floor.

"Well if what Jiji said was true, then cause your paper crumpled up first then you have a lightning affinity, with a second smaller affinity for fire." Naruto explained, enjoying playing the sensei.

The black haired boy grit his teeth, "But I'm an Uchiha…"

"Yeah so? Doesn't matter teme! You should be glad you got two affinities I think those are rare you know!"

Sasuke smirked, "Jealous are you dobe?"

"Pfft not at all! I bet I've got 6 affinities!"

"There are only five natures, dobe."

"And all five are really strong too!" the blond correct as the black haired boy sighed before focusing on the paper in Nartuo's hand, "Alright here goes."

As with Sasuke, Naruto guided a small flow of chakra into the paper. As he did, the paper simultaneously split in half, each half growing wet and soggy before they turned to a white papery mush.

"Wind and water?" The Uchiha guess, as the blond's eyes remained wide and disbelieving.

"I got two." He muttered mostly to himself.

"Yeah you did dobe, congratulations." Sasuke repled sarcastically.

"I got two chakra affinities!" he then raised his voice holding up the soggy mush in both his hands with praise, "I can't believe it!" He shouted as comical tears began running down his cheeks.

"Wha-dobe? Calm down it's not that big a deal." the black haired boy leaned back, obviously flustered by the display of emotion.

"I'm just so happy." Naruto cried.

"Would you cut it out dobe, it's really not a big deal." He tried again to avail.

The blond shook his head, "You don't understand teme, you're from some famous old fancy clan so getting two affinities isn't that surprising, but nobody clanless orphans never get two affinities!"

Sasuke frowned. He supposed that was true. Coming from the Uchiha clan he was expected to at least have a fire affinity and ninja from clans were a lot more likely to possess more than one. Slowly his frown turned into a small smile as he lost himself in thought.

"Oi what you smiling at teme, you look stupid." Naruto suddenly called getting the black-haired boys attention.

A vein throbbed on his forehead before he managed to control himself, resigning to his smile again, "I was just thinking, do you remember what they taught us in the academy about chakra natures?" Naruto gave Sasuke a blank look and the boy scoffed, "Course not, well you know how certain elements are good against others?" The blond nodded hesitantly, "Well my fire is weak against your water, and my lightning against your wind, and your wind is weak against my fire and your water against my lightning."

"But… that doesn't make sense?" The boy tilted his head.

"It does dobe, you just don't understand."

"No, I thought water was weak against earth, and earth weak against lightning?" Sasuke opened his mouth to refute but the words died in his mouth. ' _The dobe is right_ ' he thought to himself not wanting to admit it aloud.

"Well if you were to protect yourself with a water wall or something and I hit it with some electricity then it could still get you." Naruto paused to consider this frowning in thought.

"No, cause won't the water just hold the lightning cause it is a conductorer or something?"

' _Damn he's right again!_ ' Sasuke frantically thought to himself, ' _is the dobe even a dobe?'_

"Well anyway," the boy began attempting to ignore the fact that he was wrong, "my point is that we're like opposites."

"Huh…" The blond seemed to consider this before grinning widely, stretching the whisker marks on his cheeks, "I suppose we are kinda like opposites," He then raised a single finger in the air, "But we're also the best of partners!" He declared dramatically causing Sasuke's brow to furrow in confusion, "Like, if you were to shoot off a big fireball then I could puff some wind on it and would blow up real big! Or Or! If I were to spit out a whole lotta water, you could zap it with some lightning and the enemy would get all wet and then get fried!" He laughed to himself before pointing at the raven haired boy, "You're kinda like the moon and I'm like the sun, best of friends, working together."

"The moon and the sun?" Sasuke echoed, confusion filling his voice.

"Yep."

"The best of friends?" He repeated.

"Yep it's decided!" the boy looked up at Naruto who was now standing, holding an outstretched fist in front of him, "You're now my best friend and together we're gonna become the strongest ninja in Konoha, even stronger than the old man."

Sasuke looked up at the boy uncertainly before sighing and knocking his fist against the blond's a small genuine smile tugging at his lips.

Maybe training with the dobe wouldn't be so bad after all?

* * *

Yo hope you enjoyed the chapter - this one was really about setting the groundwork for the two's friendship - hope thats what it did

As usual, review, fave, follow if you feel like it and all criticism, tips, pointers or reccomendations are welcome.

Ciao.


	3. Exams and ruined ramen

Yo back with another chapter!

Thanks to all those who reviewed, favourited and followed, it really means a lot.

With regards to the pairings, cause some of you have been asking, i'm undecided at the moment. However, i would be willing to do a poll of sorts - this is a fanfic after all. I'd also like to add, that while i am thinking about and discussing pairings, this isn't necessarily going to be a relationship-centric fic, so the pairings are more secondary. And lastly, no harems!

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

It had been two years since that autumn night where Naruto had discovered his chakra affinities and since then he had promoted himself from the deadlast position. Outside of class that is. Within the academy Naruto was the same old goofy blond who made loud remarks and couldn't perform even the simplest of tasks. Outside of class however was a different matter. Alongside Sasuke, he had trained in his two chakra affinities and learned a few jutsu in tandem. He had also started learning, and was still in the long process of mastering, the taijutsu technique the Hokage had given him. It was called the Steady Fist and relied on strong, fast but simple movements to manoeuvre the opponent into a comprising position which could be capitalised on. It was essentially the opposite of Sasuke's intercepting fist which used quick reactions to counter and disable opponents. Lastly, Naruto had extended his sensor ability to a wider range, and oddly enough found Iruka to be the more helpful than the scroll. Turns out his specialty was in his sensor ability, and he was quite good at it. He was a chunin after all.

Naruto would be lying if he said that he wasn't excited. Today was the day he became a ninja. No more dobe, no more deadlast. Only him, and the race to be the Hokage. While the dream seemed a little more childish to him now he'd grown up some, he couldn't stop himself from aiming for it. Others may say that it's a pipedream, an unlikely fantasy. But some people have to aspire to be the Hokage, and somewhere the next Hokage is going about their lives, maybe not believing that it could be them. So why couldn't it be him?

Shaking the sleep from his head, the boy swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat for a moment, unleashing a large yawn. He still wasn't good with mornings.

Sighing to himself, he got to his feet and went over to his closet. Inside were a couple of his famous orange 'kill me now' jumpsuits.

"Won't be needing these anymore," He grinned to himself and instead reached for a dark blue long sleeve shirt with an orange swirl embellished on the right arm. While he still loved and always will love the colour orange, wearing an outfit that bright wasn't the best idea in the field, and besides, the colour blue had been growing on him making it the ideal compromise.

He threw the shirt onto his bed along with a pair of black shinobi pants before dragging himself into the bathroom for a shower.

After drying himself off and getting dressed, Naruto wrapped his shins in white bandages, tucking in the ends of his trousers and put on his black sandals.

He ate a small breakfast of a banana and some cereal before leaving the house with his shinobi pouch strapped to his leg.

He'd left slightly early in his excitement and decided to take a slow stroll to the academy and play one of his new favourite games. 'Feel the people'. The game sounds pervy, and in all honesty, he did invent in two years ago when he wasn't as aware of the connotations, however it was relatively appropriate. All he'd do was use his sensor ability to guess different things about people, like getting a 'feel' for them.

A man walked by, his rough face withered and a beard clutched messily to his chin. He carried a small knapsack and wore a tunic with simple trousers.

' _Small chakra reserves, civilian, labourer, probably works as a blacksmiths assistant or in a forge, no family'_ He quickly listed off internally as the man slowly trudged by.

The strange thing about the game was that Naruto had begun to develop an odd one-way relationship with the people of Konoha. He felt that while he knew a lot about them, they didn't know him at all. He was still just the blond pariah with bad habits of pranks and all things the colour orange.

Sighing to himself, Naruto continued his lazy stroll to the academy.

Upon entering his classroom, he ignored the curious, slightly wide-eyed and plain confused stares his classmates gave him and instead chose to wordlessly trudge to the upper level of seats next to Sasuke.

"Dobe." He greeted.

"Teme." The boy replied.

Such was the beauty of their relationship. Over the last couple of years the two had grown closer while still managing to retain their 'dobe-teme' friendship as Naruto called it. The blond would now openly admit that Sasuke was his closest friend, and although you might have trouble doing so, despite being more out of pride than anything else, Sasuke would most likely say the same.

"Hey doesn't Naruto look kinda, cool?" A girl in the front row whispered, not quietly enough.

"Yeah it's grossing me out, like, is he trying to act like Sasuke-kun cause he thinks he's gonna be a ninja?" The other giggled into her sleeve.

"Yeah right!" They both erupted into a fit of quiet laughter muffled by their hands and the cotton of their clothes.

Naruto rolled his eyes and attempted to focus his attention elsewhere. Such comments were something he had grown accustomed to over the years of the academy. Most were harmless but some stung. For instance last year, a civilian boy called Tatsuo had made a joke about him being an orphan, saying how his parents had told him that no one wanted Naruto because he was a monster. He didn't rise to the insult, however the boy's words had hurt. They poked and clawed at an old wound left by years of loneliness that left it sore and aching.

The next day however, Tatsuo didn't come into class. Neither the day after, nor the day after that. Finally, their sensei mentioned that the boy had transferred to a different class at his own request. Naruto was confused until he turned and saw a small rare smirk gracing Sasuke's lips. That fucking, _teme_.

The door to the classroom swung open and crash could be heard as two girls fought to enter the room.

"Forehead! Get out of my way, I'm gonna sit next to Sasuke-kun!" the blond roared as she attempted a headlock on the other.

"Yeah right, like he'd want to sit next to a pig!" the other bit back as her hands clawed at the blond's arms.

"Looks like Ino and Sakura are at it again…" Naruto mumbled as he placed his chin on the desk watching with veiled un-interest.

"Hn."

The girls had now managed to enter the classroom and were scrambling their way the stairs.

"Ugh, I don't wanna be hit for nothing anymore!" The blond whined childishly as he watched the girls approach him, anger blossoming on their faces.

"Naruto! Get out of that seat, we want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" Ino shouted, "And what's with the new look huh? You trynna be cool all of a sudden?"

The boy groaned, "I don't feel like moving Ino just go sit somewhere else." He paused and looked down at himself, "And I'm not trynna be cool, I just like blue! And orange! And black!"

"Yeah whatever Naruto-baka just move before you get beaten up." Sakura sighed as if she was doing the boy a favour.

"No."

"What?"

"No, I'm not moving. I'm comfy, and I got a nice view from up here." He swung his arm out theatrically, "I don't have to look at all these guys' mopey faces."

A snorted came from beside him, and Naruto glanced out of the corner of his eye noticing Sasuke was barely containing a smirk.

"Naruto! That's so rude!" Ino shouted back.

The boy waved his hands in front of his face, "I didn't mean all of them!" He looked at the students in the lower levels, "Just the guys!"

"Oi!" Came a collective shout from below him which he promptly ignored.

"That's it," Sakura shouted as she reached forward and attempted to grab the blond.

"Nope!" Naruto twisted his body out of her reach, "You're not gonna get me!"

Sakura increased her efforts in trying to get the blond. Using both hands she lunged forwards blindly in order to tackle the boy off the chair. With a crash, she found herself pressed against a body on the floor, "Hah, I got you, ya stupid blond!" She shouted victoriously.

"Oh Sakura! I didn't know you were so bold!" A taunting voice came the side. The pink-haired girl looked up to a grinning Naruto who was crouched to her left.

"Sakura, would you please get off?" She looked down and saw Sasuke staring up at her, a deadpan express on his face.

"AH-S-S-S-Sasuke-kun?" She stuttered as her face turned the same colour as her hair.

"Forehead!" Ino suddenly roared from behind the pair as she placed her hands under the girl's arms and launched her off the raven-haired boy.

"I hate you." Sasuke said in a neutral voice as he turned to the still crouching blond.

"You too." He grinned, "But you should stop lying about napping, Iruka-sensei is about to come in."

A vein throbbed on Sasuke's forehead. Naruto still after all these years found was able to worm his way under the boy's skin, no matter how hard he tried to stay uncaring.

"Alright class settle down," Iruka called out as he entered the room, a clipboard in hand, "Sasuke? Stop lounging around on the floor, get up and sit down," He mentioned with a confused raise of the eyebrow.

Sasuke's own eyebrow twitched as he sat back down next to his blond friend as Sakura managed to snatch the seat on the end next to the blond, sending Ino to the bench with Choji and Shikamaru.

"Right, so as you all know, today is the genin test!" Iruka began as the class erupted in whispers and shouts, "For the test there will be a written component," A number of groans echoed throughout the room, "A taijutsu segment, a shuriken and kunai section and lastly, ninjutsu!"

Amidst the complaints and chatter of nervousness, the black haired sensei handed out the exam papers for students to pass around and then signalled for the exam to begin. One hour.

Naruto allowed his head to slump onto the desk, before looking up at the clock that hung ticking tauntingly.

24 seconds down, 59 minutes and 36 seconds to go.

* * *

After the written test, students filed out of the classroom and into the yard for the taijutsu part of the exam.

One by one, students faced off against their instructor Mizuki. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he watched the man spar with an overly confident civilian girl, a friendly smile on his face. The boy had never liked him. He knew what Mizuki saw him as and what his _sensei_ had tried to do to his taijutsu. He'd 'kindly' taken the time out of his schedule to privately tutor him, and Naruto in his innocent naivety and gone along with it. Although what Mizuki later discovered was that Naruto didn't use the academy taijutsu and every time he tried to make recommendations for 'improvements' to his Steady Fist, they were readily the ignored.

One by one, students faced off against the instructor with varying degrees of success. Noticeable matches were Kiba's, Choji's, Hinata's (who had surprisingly nearly out-manoeuvred the man), and of course Sasuke's.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka called off from the side and Naruto strolled forward to his position in front of Mizuki.

"You ready, _Naruto_?" The man asked with a poorly contained sneer.

"Yep!" He replied with a grin as he settled into his stance. His body sideways, one hand was bent in front of him in the shape of a fist, the other slightly behind it the side, his left foot pointing to the right and his right forwards.

The whole class watched in anticipation. While Naruto had conceded that he should maintain his 'dobe' façade in the academy, one thing he refused to pretend in was taijutsu. It was a matter of pride and Sasuke understood immediately. He didn't mind pretending to not know what all the minor villages were but he wasn't going to be beaten around on the field.

"And begin!" Iruka suddenly shouted and Naruto burst forwards.

Lowering himself, he darted to the right of the instructor and aimed a sharp kick to man's thigh. Mizuki grinned and quickly stepped back from the kick however was taken by surprise as Naruto used his momentum to spin around and place a punch to the same thigh.

The man grit his teeth as the blow scraped past his leg, he had side-stepped a little too slowly. Not wanting to be embarrassed the chunin then lowered himself and brought his knee in the direction of the blond's head who quickly leant back to avoid it.

Naruto rolled to the side before jumping up towards Miuzki, a straight right aimed at his face. The man parried the punch to the side with the back of his wrist and sent his elbow to side of the blond's head. The blond grinned and duck his head mid-air before bringing his feet up and kicking the chunin in the chest with both feet sending him sliding back while Naruto fell onto the ground and rolled onto his feet.

The instructor brought his hand to his chest as a snarl began to form on his face, "Why you little-"

He didn't have to time to finish however as the blond charged back at the chunin aiming another straight right to the face. Mizuki leaned to the side and the let loose a right of his own. Naruto let the blow sail over his head dropped low to sweep the older man's legs. The instructor hopped over the kick and twisted his body in mid air arching his left leg around aiming at the blond's chest.

Naruto rolled to the left before placing a punch to the man's left side which was blcoked by his larger hand. Finding himself stuck, Naruto jumped and twisted his body in midair bringing his legs around in a spinning kick to the man's legs. Mizuki snarled slightly and push the blond's hand forwards creating space between the two. He then dropped low and prepared to charge the boy before he was interupted.

"Alright that's enough," Iruka suddenly called from the side line as he looked down at his clipboard, "I've seen all I need to see, well done Naruto." The blond grinned at the praise before strolling back to his spot next to Sasuke, his hands behind his head.

Iruka narrowed his eyes at Mizuki over his clipboard, inwardly glad he had stopped the fight when he did. That elbow shot had been a bit excessive against an academy student and that spinning kick too. If it were a normal student on the receiving end, they'd probably be in the hospital with a concussion. The man knew of his fellow instructors dislike for the blond, and had resigned himself to not letting him impede in the blond's training.

Next the genin-hopefuls all engaged in a test of their shuriken and kunai abilities which went by without a hitch, Sasuke unsurprisingly getting the top position after hitting all the targets simultaneously in each round. But then again it wasn't that impressive. It was nothing compared to what his brother could do.

The students were then dismissed for lunch before their ninjutsu exam. Naruto, who hadn't made lunch in his haste decided instead to sit under the large oak tree that sat in the academy yard.

He heard a small creak of someone sitting in the swing and looked up to see Sasuke sitting with his back to him.

"Here." He said simply holding out a large onigiri.

Naruto grinned and took the rice ball before munching on it absentmindedly, "Whaddya think of the exam?"

"It's a joke." He laughed and took another bite.

"Yeah, except for that written exam," the blond shuddered to himself, "They're nasty."

Sasuke rolled his eyes from his position on the bench, "It was easy."

"Yeah, for a know-it-all like you!"

The Uchiha simply grunted before going back to his lunch. Naruto popped the rest of the onigiri into his mouth thoughtfully, "It was okay, bit too salty though." The black haired boy turned to Naruto with glare, "What? It was! You're getting better though, I remember when your onigiri where just white globs and tasted like starch."

The boy shook his head before turning back round, ' _Damn. I thought I had it this time._ " he cursed inwardly.

The two decided to sit in a relative silence, only commenting on the odd thing. It was a comfortable silence however, one born form the comfort of a mutual friendship.

After a while the bell rang, and two packed up their things and slowly made their way back into the classroom.

"Right, now I'll explain how ninjutsu part of the exam works," Iruka shouted over the noise of chattering students and they quieted down to listen, "Each student will go into the examination room one-by-one and perform three jutsus: a Kawarimi, a Henge and a Bunshin no jutsu. You must perform each of these in order to pass. Any questions?" He looked over the students and none said anything, "Right well, will Aburame Shino please make their way to the examination room." He said looking down at his clipboard before leaving the classroom, a boy with a high-coloured coat and dark round sunglasses following.

"Good luck Shino!" Naruto shouted over the noise of the class.

The boy didn't respond but Naruto felt the bugs he held buzz with chatter.

Every five or so minutes, a student would enter back into the classroom either with a grin on their face or noticeable sadness. Expectantly all the clan heirs passed as well as quite a few civilian children, much to Naruto's surprise. It wasn't that he had anything against them, he just knew that they struggled more as usually didn't have the chakra reserves or training to compete with others.

"Naruto, your turn." Sasuke called out from door with a smirk on his face.

Naruto made his way down the stairs of the classroom a grin stretching across his lips, "I guess you passed then?"

The black haired boy scoffed, "Did you need to ask?"

He shook his head in response and exited the classroom, walked down the hallway and then entered a large empty room with a simple table at the front, behind it sat Iruka and Mizuki.

"Naruto," Iruka greeted with a smile.

"Heya Iruka-sensei, looking forward to seeing the future Hokage become a genin?" the boy asked as he stepped up to the middle of the room.

"I sure am," He quickly flashed a look down at the papers on his desk, "Alright Naruto, I need you to perform the three jutsus please."

"You got it sensei." Naruto called out with a thumbs up.

First he did a simple Kawarimi with a chair that sat at the side of the room. Next, he performed the Henge no jutsu, turning himself into an identical copy of the fourth Hokage. Iruka's eyes widened a little as he gazed upon the face of one of the strongest shinobi Konoha has ever produced. He shook himself out of his musings as the figure burst in a plume of smoke and a grinning Naruto reappeared in its wake.

' _They look identical…_ ' he thought before shaking his head slightly, "That was great Naruto, now I'll need to see a Bunshin no jutsu." He asked a hint of nervousness entering his tone. He knew this wasn't the boy's strong point.

Naruto didn't respond and instead brought his hands up into the tiger seal, "Mizu bunshin no jutsu," He shouted before two globules of water seemed to form from the air and then, taking a humanly form, morphed into identical copies of Naruto.

"Wha-!" Mizuki stammered with wide eyes.

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted as he stood up, Naruto's brow marred with worry at the older man's tone, "That was amazing! How did you do that?"

The boy laughed nervously scratching the back of his head with his hand, "whaddya mean sensei?" he asked, inwardly relieved he hadn't been told off.

"You mean you don't know how impressive what you just did is?"

Naruto slowly shook his head, slightly confused.

"In order for water clones to be made, one usually has to have access to a water source, only water users of the highest level or those with extremely strong affinities can use the moisture in the air for their jutsus." Iruka explained while a frown grew on the face of Mizuki.

"Oh." Naruto paused for a moment, "So did I pass?"

"Yes!"

"No."

The clones burst into water forming two puddles on the wooden floor and both Iruka and Naruto's gazes were drawn to the white-haired instructor as he sat with his arms crossed, "What do you mean 'no' Mizuki, he created a bunshin didn't he?"

"Yes, a mizu bunshin, not the academy bunshin. I bet the reason why he didn't perform a regular bunshin was because he couldn't, which is why he can't be allowed to pass." The man explained, his voice laced with poorly concealed venom.

Iruka frowned, Mizuki did have a point, however, "And what about Rock Lee?" he asked.

The man looked up at the other instructor, "What about him?"

"He passed the exam with no ninjutsu at all," He swept his arm to the blond, "Naruto here has excellent scores on bokijtutsu, taijutsu and while his written was… modest, he demonstrated a high level ninjutsu technique as well as the other two mandatory ones." He paused as a stern expression crossed his face, "Now I'm going to pass Naruto here, and if you still believe that he shouldn't be a shinobi, you can go talk to Hokage-sama, I'm sure he'll be _very_ interested in your reasoning." The man narrowed his eyes as he finished, the hidden message not going unnoticed by the other chunin.

Mizuki frowned but kept his mouth shut nonetheless.

"So… I passed?" Naruto concluded as tension permeated the room.

"Yes Naruto you passed," Iruka grinned, "Here's your hitai-ate," He placed the headband on the desk and the boy stepped forward, picking it up with two hands.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei!" He grinned, sending Mizuki a childish glare and sticking his tongue at him before strolling out of the room.

After the exam, Iruka gave a short speech congratulating those who passed, consoling those who didn't and then told the class that team placements would be announced a week that day. Since they'd just passed the exams, Naruto and Sasuke decided to take a break from training for the day. The Uchiha, who still favoured his 'alone time' decided to simply go home, although he would probably just be practicing his cooking, as usual.

Sometime after the two had become friends, Naruto had discovered that the Uchiha was a terrible cook. After having lived with his parents for one half of his life, and alone the next, he was suddenly thrust into a world of taking care of himself, one that Naruto was well acquainted with. So it wasn't all that surprising when Naruto stole a rice ball from the boy's bento and nearly choked as the white gluey ball got wedged in his throat. Naruto on the other hand, while admittedly favouring instant ramen, was a relative adept cook, capable of making most dishes to a eatable, "hey this isn't that bad" degree. As a result, Sasuke had made it his mission (along with killing his brother who singlehandedly murdered his whole clan in cold blood) to master the culinary art.

Naruto grinned to himself as he left the academy grounds, Sasuke, under all the brooding and talk of killing was, just a normal, albeit strange kid, just like him.

As he wandered through the village he decided to visit his favourite establishment.

Stepping under the sheeted entrance, Naruto sat down on one of the stools, "Yo, Teuchi oji-san." He called out with a wave of the hand.

"Well if it isn't our favourite customer, how are you?" The man asked, his eyes squinted in a kindly smile.

"Good thanks, ossan."

Ayame then came out from the back of the shop, "Oh Naruto-kun! How'd it go? Your genin exam was today wasn't it?"

"Yep!" The boy suddenly grinned widely, "And I passed!" He declared as he held out his new Hitai-ate to show the pair.

"Congratulations Naruto my boy, this round's on the house!" Teuchi announced as he turned to continue his cooking and Ayame made her way around the booth.

"Well done Naruto-kun, you deserved it." She said as she embraced the boy in a warm hug.

"Thanks nee-chan," He mumbled as a light spread blush tainted his cheeks, he then watched as she returned behind the counter, "Sasuke passed too." He said with a grin.

Ayame smiled and shook her head slightly, "I bet he did." She gave him a curious glance, "And why isn't he here celebrating with you?"

Naruto shrugged, "I think he's practicing his cooking," He leaned forward and gave the girl a suggestive look, "He says he's doing it to beat me but I think he's just trying to impress you."

The girl rolled her eyes, "I'm sure he is Naruto."

Before the boy could respond, a figure entered the stand and took a seat one stool away from the boy.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, a slight cold edge to his voice.

"What? A chunin instructor can't get a bowl of ramen now?" Mizuki replied without looking at the blond who frowned in response.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's, what'll it be?" Ayame said amiably as she turned to face the man.

"One beef ramen," He replied with a smile on his face that made Naruto's insides churn.

"Sure, it'll be a few minutes." Mizuki nodded his head before looking at the blond for a moment and then turning away.

The blond thought about leaving however at that point Teuchi turned around with an exceptionally large bowl in hands, "One super deluxe special ramen for the new genin!" He announced as he placed it heavily on the table.

"Thanks ossan," Naruto said with a wide smile that felt fake and unconvincing however the chef simply nodded with his kindly grin and turned back to help Ayame.

He ate the ramen slowly, trying his best to enjoy the taste. He looked over at Mizuki and saw a nasty smirk plastered on his face, ' _that bastard, he's trying to ruin my super deluxe special ramen_ ' he thought as he shovelled a large bundle of noodles into his mouth, ' _and it's working_ ' he added internally as a frown etched itself into his brow.

In all honesty, while the taste of ramen itself was great, it wasn't necessarily the flavour that had made Naruto become so infatuated with the noodle dish. It was the company. When he was younger, Ichiraku ramen was one of the few places that treated him kindly and didn't kick him out or increase their prices. Even more so, they occasionally gave him free meals when he had no food or money. They treated him like family, like he belonged. His love for Ichiraku ramen wasn't based on the noodles nor the broth or the dried vegetables. It was Teuchi and Ayame. And this bastard Mizuki was ruining it.

Hastily, he finished his meal and called out to the two chefs, "I'm done Teuchi oji-san, Ayame nee-chan," Mizuki rose an eyebrow at the terms of endearment, "Thanks for the ramen it was great." He said sheepishly as he hopped off his stool.

"Are you not gonna stay for more Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked as she looked on at the boy, a hint of worry in her eyes, "I wanted to hear about your exam." Teuchi nodded in agreement.

"Nah sorry," He scratched the back of his head, "I got training to do you know, gotta be ready for when I go on missions and stuff."

"Oh well, okay," She replied, "Just promise you'll come back soon alright? I still want to hear about your exam." Ayame gave him a soft smile that sent a small jolt through his chest.

"I will do Ayame nee-chan, I promise." He replied before turning and exiting the stand.

Meanwhile, Mizuki had been watching the interaction with rapt attention, "Here's your beef ramen." Teuchi said as he dropped the bowl in front of him.

"Thanks," The instructor replied politely. He reached over and snapped apart a pair of chopsticks, before looking up at the two chefs, "So, you run the place?" He asked.

"Yes sir!" Teuchi replied proudly, "Been running this place for over 20 years!"

Mizuki raised his eyebrows, "Must be hard running a place by yourself."

The old chef nodded, "Sure is. It's easier now though, now that I got Ayame-chan hear to help out." He explained as he gestured to the girl who gave a short polite wave.

"Huh." The chunin sounded as he began eating his ramen at a slow pace, "Your daughter?"

"Yep! My pride and joy!" He grinned as Ayame blushed.

"Tou-san!" the man simply laughed as the girl pestered him to stop embarrassing her.

Neither noticed the dark grin that crawled across Mizuki's face.

* * *

Yo thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapters are a bit short but they're coming out quicker so you know, can't complain aye?

Ciao!


	4. Sadness and acceptance

Yo back with another chapter! Thanks for all teh reviews, you guys have been great.

Enjoy!

* * *

After arriving home, Naruto settled down onto his sofa to read his favourite book. Tales of a Gutsy Ninja. He wasn't all the enamoured by the plot or the character development, but more so the theme that ran throughout the book. It told a story of resilience and endurance, to fight for your dream against all odds. The fact that the he and the protagonist shared the same name may have also played a small part.

Having liked the book so much, Naruto decided a while ago that he would try out another of his series and discovered Icha Icha, which was a country-wide sensation. He was still ambivalent towards the book. It was pervy… however the characters weren't so bad, and it _was_ well thought out in terms of the plot… but the plot did consist mainly of very, sexual, love scenes. Hence his indecision.

The blond was startled out of thoughts by a loud knock on the door. He frowned as he dropped the bought on his kitchen table as he got up and drudged over the entrance, 'probably just Sasuke-teme asking or a late spar," He inwardly reasoned, which was a regular occurrence.

He reached for the door handle and opened with attitude, "Look teme you gotta stop coming round for these late... night…" The boys eyes narrowed at his visiting, "You again?"

Mizuki grinned maliciously, "Oh do finish," He held up a hand to his ear mockingly, "What were you saying? 'Late night booty calls? I didn't know you and the Uchiha were like… _that_." He laughed hollowly at his joke, "But then again I'm not surprised."

"What do you want?" Naruto managed through grit teeth.

"Oh Naruto! Not going to invite your favourite instructor in?" The man faked being hurt, bringing a hand to his chest.

"What do you want Mizuki?" The boy repeated harshly.

Mizuki's eyes narrowed as they grew cold, "You little demon brat, all this time you've been arrogantly playing the last," He brought his hand up to his face covering a single eye, "You who has caused this village so much pain and death!"

Naruto's heart jumped, a slither of fear working its way into his mind as he took an unconscious step backwards.

"My friends, my family… all gone, all because of that damn fox!" The man took a step forward, his fists clenched and his eyes rabid however he seemed to stop himself, glaring into the blue orbs of the blond. His hands relaxed and he shrugged his shoulders while rolling his neck, "At any rate, I thought you should know that I've taken your ramen friends out for a little chat…" He grinned a psychotic grin, "What were their names again… Teuchi _oji-san_? Ayame _nee-chan_?"

"What have you done!?" Naruto snarled as his fists clenched, his mouth forming a thin line.

"Nothing yet," The man held up his hands innocently, "Although I can't promise anything on behalf of my civilian friends," He sighed, "Civilians always do seem more… brutal when it comes to these things." He laughed and Naruto found himself shaking with anger as his vision began to un-focus, "Especially when it comes to young ripe girls."

Naruto couldn't take it anymore. In burst of speed that dented the floorboards he shot forward, his arm poised back and struck Mizuki in the centre of his chest with the face of his hand, a sharp spike of water emanating from his palm.

Mizuki stood still. His eyes wide and face frozen in shock. Slowly, however, the man's features began to droop and deform, while taking on a thick, brown consistency.

"Shit, a mud clone." Naruto internally cursed as he let his small mizukiri (water dagger) disperse and watched as it dropped onto the muddy pile on the floor.

Naruto's eyes grew frantic as he suddenly recalled Mizuki's words.

"Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit!" He sprawled as he clasped his hands together and focused on sensor ability.

One thing Naruto had learnt from the scroll that the Hokage had given him was that his sensory ability relied on using moisture in the air in order detect agents within his perceptive field. Due to his high affinity with water, he was able to sense movements within an area depending on how much moisture he was able to thinly lace with his chakra. He had labelled the ability, Suijin-me (water god eye) mostly because he thought it was cool, he was still a child after all.

The boy grit his teeth as he widened his field of 'vision', stretching it from the rough urban area where he lived to the clan compounds and then the village forests. Once he had done so, it was a matter of actually picking out Teuchi and Ayame's chakra's which would be harder since they were civilians and had smaller reserves.

The veins on the boy's forehead began to show as he strained harder to keep up the technique while searching for their chakras. Beads of sweat rolled down his face and gathered on his chin and his knees began to shake slightly.

Then, with a sudden sigh of relief, Naruto managed to pinpoint their whereabouts in one of the forested areas in the north of the village. He also detected four other chakras, three civilian and one reasonably large.

"Mizuki…" He gritted to himself as he stepped out into his doorway. Then, reaching into his pocket he pulled out his knew hitai-ate and tied it tightly around his forehead, the cold metal gleaming in the moonlight. Mizuki would never know what hit him.

* * *

Mizuki yawned as he leant against a large tree. That damn Kyuubi brat is late.

The man turned to the side, watching idly as the civilians he'd rallied played with the ramen chefs. A large man with small beady eyes and a shaved head held Teuchi's face in the direction of his daughter who was surrounded by another skinnier, shaggy haired man and a middle aged lady. Her hair was a dark brown and covered the side of her face, under which a large burn scar could be seen.

The skinny man crouched next to the girl whose eyes were wide and ridden with fear.

He held a dagger in front of her and waved it playfully, "So, you're a demon lover huh?" He spat.

Ayame didn't respond.

The man frowned at the lack of reaction and held the blade to her cheek creating a thin red line, "Well, you know what we do with demon lovers?"

Ayame still said nothing, a terrified stubbornness flashing in her brown orbs.

The man ignored her lack of response and grabbed her cheeks roughly with a single had, covering her mouth, smudging the small drop of blood that was trailing down her face.

He leaned close so that his lips were centimetres away from her ear. His breath felt hot and rank as it scratched at her neck.

"Demon lovers like you get treated like demons, except, a pretty little girl like you might get some _special_ treatment."

Ayame clenched her eyes shut and shook her head tightly in a desperate attempt to get lose.

"Leave her alone you god damn thugs"" Teuchi shouted before the heavy man holding his head smashed the handle of the knife he held onto the man's skull.

"Tou-san!" She shouted before the woman slapped her hard around the face.

"Shut up you little bitch," She hissed as she pushed the skinny man aside and crouched down in front of Ayame.

The girl let her eyes fall to the ground as her shoulders began to shake, silent tears falling down her cheeks.

The woman sneered and grabbed the girls face forcing her to look up at the burn mark that marred her skin as she held her hair to the side, "You see this? You see what that monster did to me?"

"Naruto-kun isn't a monster!" She cried out desperately.

"'Naruto-kun isn't a monster'?" The woman echoed, "That thing is no child, it is no boy, it has no name, it is a demon and that is all it will ever be."

"You're wrong," Ayame wept, shaking her head slightly in disbelief, "He's not a monster."

"You can believe what you want, but it doesn't change anything," The woman snarled as a sinister grin stretched across her lips. She grabbed the girl by the hair and moved within inches of her, "On that day, I lost my husband, my child, my family, my friends, my beauty" Her eyes narrowed, "I was forced to sell myself to live!" She clenched her eyes and laughed mirthlessly, "But who would want to sleep with a burnt old hag like me?"

The girl didn't respond and watched as the woman raised her hand and with a gentleness that seemed beyond her caressed Ayame's cheek, "Do you know how long it's been? Since I've felt the touch of a man?" She suddenly leant forward and crashed her lips harshly into the girl's own.

Ayame let of a muffled cry and struggled as the woman continued to press force her lips onto her mouth. The woman's hand trailed down and lingered over the girl's underwear, playing with her folds through the soft cotton and the girl gasped and intensified her struggle.

All the while Teuchi watched on from the floor, his vision still blurry obscured by the blood that ran from the cut on his head over his eyes and face, drifting in and out of consciousness.

The woman then broke the kiss slowly and removed her hand before bringing lips up to Ayame's ear, "Do you know what I'm gonna do?" She paused and then leaned a little closer, "I'm going to let these boys here have their way with you, for as long as they like. And when they're done using you, you'll be just like me." She brought her head back and looked Ayame in the eyes with a soft psychotic grin on her face, "Another broken girl, with their beauty stolen away from them."

Mizuki looked away. He was used to seeing broken people break others. It came with the job.

* * *

Naruto snarled to himself as his he raced through the village. His legs had begun to ache with the speed he was travelling at and his mind was foggy from overusing Suijin-me. Soon, rickety wooden buildings were replaced with large trees and he jumped up into the branches, continuing his search.

A thick blanket of leaves and branches blocked out the moonlight leaving the forest in a residual darkness. Naruto's eyes however quickly adapted and he was able to see with relative ease.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of metal slicing through air and ducked to the down as three shuriken flew over his head. He landed on a large branch and quickly sensed Mizuki stalkingin the foliage nearby.

"Shit." He cursed to himself before jumping down on the forest floor below.

"Well well well, if it isn't the demon brat come to save his-" The man began before he was cut off by a barrage of shuriken sailing in his direction.

He performed a kawarimi and was able to escape the attack with ease.

"You're gonna have to try better than that if you- Shit he's gone," Mizuki quickly cursed before racing in the direction of crunching leaves ahead of him.

Naruto frowned as he sensed Mizuki beginning to catch up with him. Ducking under a low hanging branch, he focused on the area ahead where he could make out Teuchi and Ayame's presences.

The boy jumped over a large fallen tree that easily stood taller than him in its width and landed in a crouch. He stood up slowly and looked out into the clearing in front of him, his eyes widening as a gasp escaped his lips.

A man and a woman lingered by a smaller tree, both now turned around and sneering at him. At their feet, Ayame sat leant against the bark, her hands tied behind her back. Eyes half-lidded she looked barely conscious, blood was smeared on her cheek and her clothes were torn so that she was left in her bra and the remains of her trousers. Teuchi lay to the side unmoving on the floor, his hair matted with red and a man stood looming over him a knife in hand.

Mizuki landed next to him and grinned as he watched the blond.

"I did say didn't I? Civilians are always more _brutal_." The man almost purred with delight.

"What's the matter demon? Upset with how we've been treated your little friends," The woman called out as she bent down and roughly picked up Ayame's face by the hair, "And to think, we were just about to have a bit more…" She reached out with her other hand and groped the girl's breast, " _dirty_ fun."

Naruto's eyes glazed over as his mind dumbed.

"Let go of her." He said in a whisper that got lost in wind that blew between the trees.

"What's that you little monster?" The skinny one replied as he held a hand to ear his ear mockingly.

"Let go of her." The boy repeated as the winds that rustled the leaves on the forest floor began to pick up.

The man held a finger to his mouth in thought, "Hmm I don't think I'll do that, in fact," He grinned darkly and reached down towards the girl's loins, "…I think I'll do the opposite."

Naruto saw red.

Suddenly the winds that whispered throughout the forest roared and whipped his hair to the side. His eyes took on a ghostly pale red and his hands clenched.

Then he was gone.

The shaggy haired man's hand paused as it touched upon the cotton of the girl's underwear. His eyes suddenly wide as a throaty gurgle ripped through his mouth. He looked up and saw the woman looking at him with fear lacing her purple orbs as she stared at his chest.

His gaze fell and landed on a single hand that protruded from his left breast, covered by a sharp watery casing that was stained with blood. His blood.

He coughed and the thick red liquid dibbled onto his chin and fell onto the limb.

Then he knew nothing.

The woman watched as the man fell forward revealing the boy with his dead eyes.

"No, no, stay back you shit!" She shouted as she stepped back and tripped on a root falling to the ground.

A roar came from behind the boy as the heavier man charged him, his knife raised above his head.

Naruto ducked to the side and let the arm sail past him before bringing up his hand, covered in the bloody watery spear and cut the man's arm off at the mid bicep.

"You killed him." He said as he looked down at Teuchi, "You killed Teuchi oji-san."

The boy ignored the man's screams as he desperately clutched at his shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He collapsed onto his knees and leant forward, a large pool of blood seeping into the forest earth.

"You monster!" The woman shouted from behind him.

Naruto's eyes drifted to the scarred lady un-empathetically, "Isn't this what you wanted?" He looked at his hand, "A monster?"

The boy turned to face the woman and approached her slowly.

"No… no, no, no," She scrambled back using her hands but struggled to get to her feat.

The boy kept walking. The mizukiri on his hand now vibrating slightly as stream of blood dripped onto the floor.

"S-stay back!" she screamed with a sob.

The boy's hair fell over his eyes and the dark aura that surrounded him like a shadowy haze intensified. He was like an animal stalking his prey, a primal beast. But worse, he was demon.

The woman's back suddenly hit a tree as Naruto stepped to her feet.

Her lips were now trembling and she found no words but could only weep and clench her eyes closed.

"You wanted a monster…" He leant his head back revealing blood red eyes and slit pupils, "I'll show you a demon."

In one swift motion he brought his hand back and launched it towards the woman's heart as she let out one last straggled scream.

"N-naruto-kun!" A quiet voice came from behind the boy and he paused. His mizukiri centimetres away from the woman's chest.

He turned his head slowly and saw Ayame, her eyes still barely open, leaning forward onto both hands while staring at him.

"Don't do this Naruto-kun, don't become what they want you to." She breathed.

Naruto stared into the girl's brown orbs and found nothing but fear and worry and his mind began to clear. Crimson eyes fluttered back to blue and the water splashed down onto the woman's chest as he withdrew his arm.

"Ayame... nee-chan? You're okay." He managed as he took a hesitant step towards her.

The girl nodded in relief.

"And Teuchi oji-san?" He asked looking over at the man.

Ayame's gaze softened, "He's hurt, but alive." She replied simply.

Naruto nodded and let a small smile grace his lips.

His eyes then difted to the skinny man who lay next to the girl and saw the large gaping hole in his chest.

"Did I..." He asked almost to himself as he pointed a shaky finger in the man's direction.

Ayame gave the boy a sorry look and nodded slightly.

Naruto felt bile burn at the back of his throat. He leant forward and wheezed for air as he gagged.

"My my Naruto, I was hoping you'd finish off this pathetic bunch but it looks like you've left one." Mizuki suddenly called out from the side as he walked towards the woman who sat still shaking against the tree.

Naruto quickly hopped in front of Ayame protectively and felt his whole body ache painfully.

"Civilians really are useless," The man stated casually as he stood over the woman who seemed to only just notice his presence.

"You!" She called out as she reached over and clasped at the man's trouser legs, "You have to save me from that demon!" She pleaded.

Mizuki merely frowned at the woman before kicking her off him roughly.

She landed painfully but didn't seem deterred as she immediately began crawling back to the man's feet.

"Please, save me! Plea-" her words were cut short as a kunai implanted itself in her throat. She made a gurgling sound and collapsed to the side as blood began pouring out of her mouth.

"How disgusting," Mizuki commented distastefully.

Ayame let out a small scream as she averted her eyes and Naruto winced as a grimace formed on his face.

"How could you do that? You were working together!" He managed through grit teeth.

"How naïve of you." The man muttered as he walked forwards and pulled the kunai out from the woman's throat. Blood pooled out of the wound as Mizuki wiped the kunai clean of her clothes, "We weren't working together; I was using her." He turned to look at boy, a sick glee in his eyes, "Just like how the village uses you."

Naruto felt the bile rise to the back of his throat again but willed it down, "What are you talking about?" He demanded angrily.

"Have you ever wondered why the whole village hates you? Why you are shunned and ignored? Why you are treated as demon?"

Ayame sobbed quietly as Naruto kept quietly. Part of him wanted to shut Mizuki up for good, but then the other part of him, the part that was still that scared insecure boy who was tormented wanted to know why. It longed to know why.

"It's because you _are_ a demon." He sneered, a twisted smirk on his lips.

"What?" Naruto echoed emptily.

"You are a demon," He repeated, "You remember the stories of the fourth defeating the infamous Kyuubi?"

Naruto nodded slowly, his mind already connecting the pieces.

"Well he didn't he defeat it! He sealed it into a newborn!" He revealed theatrically, "He sealed it into you!" He pointed at the boy with his kunai, his eyes narrowed, "You are the Kyuubi no Yoko."

Naruto's eyes went wide and like near experience his life began flashing before his eyes. Every insult, every beating, every cold distant glance. It all made sense.

"I am… the Kyuubi?" the boy looked down and stared at his hand.

"Yes." The man twirled the kunai he held before gripping it, "Now die like a good little demon." He said as he threw the projectile at the blond.

Naruto watched passively as the kunai approached him. He didn't have the energy to move. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He closed his eyes as darkness surrounded him.

He heard a panicked call of his name before the sound of a kunai hitting flesh reached his ears, but he felt no pain.

Opening his eyes, he saw Ayame's kind smile looking down at him, "It's okay Naruto-kun, you're not a monster, or a demon or the Kyuubi," She reached down and hugged him which gave Naruto a view of the kunai sticking out of her shoulder, "You're just Naruto, and you always will be." She mumbled into his hair before sliding down his body and kneeling on the floor, her eyes pained and clenched shut and her breathing ragged.

"Ayame nee-chan…" He mumbled as the girl fell to the side, "Ayame nee-chan!" her eyes closed as a soft smile tugged at her lips.

"It's okay Naruto-kun, it's okay," He quickly dropped down and felt touched her neck as the other lingered over her mouth. She was still breathing.

"You bastard." Naruto growled as he rose to his feet, his legs aching and his arms heavy.

Mizuki watched on impassively, "Are you done with your little show?" he reached behind his back and took out a large wind shuriken and held it the side, "I think it's time I finish you, now that all the nuisances are out the way."

Naruto frowned as he eyed the man. His chakra reserves weren't that low but he was mentally tired from overusing Suijin-me. He would have to finish this in one technique, and there was only one big enough that he could think of, and he hadn't even finished it yet.

Deciding to take the risk Naruto raised his hands into the dragon seal and focused on feeling the wind that blew through the forest.

"You think I'm just gonna let you fire of a jutsu?" Mizuki suddenly shouted as he launched the wind shuriken at the boy.

Naruto's eyes widened and was forced to drop his concentration as he dodged under the projectile.

The man didn't give him chance to recover however as he charged the boy with a kunai in hand slicing at his torso.

Naruto jumped backwards before taking a quick glance at Ayame who lay prone on the ground.

' _Hang in there Ayame nee-chan,_ ' he pleaded inwardly before jumping into the bushes.

"Shit," Mizuki cursed as he dived after the boy, "you can't run brat!"

Naruto was already high in the branches as he watched the white-haired man appear through the foliage. Clasping his hands together into the tiger seal, he created two water clones which seemed to seep up from the thick tree branch he was crouched on.

Without speaking a word, they jumped away in opposite sides of blond. He hoped this would work.

* * *

Mizuki growled to himself as he stalked through the forest, watching for any signs of the blond. A twig snapped to his left and he span on his heal launching the kunai in his hand in the direction.

Nothing.

The wind that swept through the forest seemed to cry out in a whispering moan as it billowed through the trees.

The air grew damp as he stalked further, following faint trials left on the forest floor.

Suddenly a flash of yellow caught his eye in the distance he lunged forwards, as it lead him into a small clearing.

"Finally decided to stop running?" he taunted as he stepped closer.

Naruto stood in the middle of the clearing, his face hard with worry lingering in his eyes.

He took out a kunai and quickly launched it at Mizuki who sneered and deflected it easily with his own.

"Is that all you've got? No more little tricks up your sleeve?" The man charged forward his kunai raised and Naruto stumbled backwards as a horizontal slash clipped some of the hairs from atop his head.

The man followed up with another in the opposite direction which Naruto brought up his mizukiri to block. The force of the blow dissolved the water blade and knocked his hand back above his head as his eyes went wide.

Mizuki didn't waste a second as he brought up his kunai and plunged into the centre of the blond's chest and pushed him against the trunk of a tree.

The man smirked as he watched the pained wide eyes of the boy as his mouth trembled and felt liquid drip onto his hand, "Well what do you think demon? This is the end."

Naruto's mouth moved wordlessly as his eyebrows arched up in something akin to confusion.

"Y-you, you…" He stuttered as Mizuki leaned forwards.

"What's that brat?" he asked as his eyes narrowed and he twisted the blade slightly within the boy's chest.

Naruto's eyes seemed to wither with pain, before he opened his mouth again his lips stretching.

"You… lose." He finished with a sudden grin.

"Wha-" The man began before the boy burst into a plume of water drenching him, "That damn brat!" he shouted.

Only then did he hear the vicious roaring that ripped through the clearing, he turned and locked eyes with the blond and watched as his mouth moved, the words lost in the cry of the wind.

"Fuck."

* * *

 **1 minute earlier**

Naruto observed as his clone confronted Mizuki with a tired smile on his face. All good so far.

Drowning out the sounds of battle, he raised his hands back into the dragon seal and focused on gathering the moisture in the air into a single point in front of him.

Slowly, globules of water began forming in the air in front of the boy which joined together forming one larger sphere.

Naruto's brow furrowed as his concentration increased. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.

Smaller droplets of water formed around the larger one and were drawn into it as if it had its own gravitational force, and it grew bigger than the boy's head.

Naruto released the dragon seal and quickly morphed his hands into the bird seal as winds began picking up around him.

Slowly the wind began to rotate around the sphere of water in all directions, chilling the liquid and giving it an icy glow.

"This is for Ayame nee-chan and Teuchi oji-san you piece of shit." The boy mumbled to himself as he opened his eyes and looked at the glowing orb

"Wha- that god damn brat!" Naruto heard Mizuki shout as he looked down into the clearing and saw the man dripping wet.

The blond then dropped the seal before clapping his hands together with a grin across his face.

"Suifuton! (water-wind release)" He began before he brought his right arm back, his hand clenched into a fist.

He saw the man's mouth move, the roar of the wind drowning out the sound but he understood nonetheless.

His grin stretched wider.

"Suzushī ryūsei! (cool meteor)" He shouted as he shot his hand forward with such force his feet lifted off the bark of the branch. A small vacuum of wind formed around his fist as he punched the glowing orb, its surface bending around the extremity.

Then, with a small boom the sphere shot forward towards Mizuki whose eyes were now wide and laced with fear. As it throttled through the air the wind ripped around it propelling icy ball forwards.

With a crash it collided with the man's stomach, his head and feet lurching forwards as the projectile sent him flying back into the tree where it shattered and erupted in a windy storm of cold water droplets and icy winds.

Naruto stared at the raging explosion with half-lidden eyes as his mind quickly grew foggy, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Cool." He muttered to himself, before a hazy darkness crept into his vision and he fell forwards into the cold wet forest floor that lay below.

* * *

Beams of light fell on his face as his eyes twitched uncomfortably in the unwelcomed sun. A groan escaped his lips and blue orbs opened up to white ceilings.

"Ugh, the hospital," He mumbled as he brought a hand up to cover his face. Instead of soft flesh however he was hit with something hard, "What the…"

Naruto sat up as he looked down at his arm and observed the white casting that was wrapped tightly around the extremity.

"Guess I don't quite have the technique down after all." He muttered to himself before falling back into the bed and closing his eyes once more, in an attempt to fall back asleep.

The boy suddenly shot up after images of Ayame, Teuchi and Mizuki crept into his mind. The civilians. The blood.

A shiver ran down his spine.

He'd killed them, in cold blood. They weren't even ninja.

He brought a hand to his head, his fingers laced with his hair.

The kyuubi was sealed inside of him.

He was a demon.

Or was he?

The sound of a hushed argument outside his hospital door drew Naruto from his thoughts as he focused on the presences. A knowing smile crept onto his face as he fell back onto the bed.

"You can't go in there Uchiha-sama, it's not… safe." A voice pleaded.

"And why is it not safe?" A young masculine voice replied.

There was a short pause before the woman spoke again, "They say he went on a rampage last night, killed two civilians." Another pause, "I honestly don't know why we're treating him, it would be better if we just locked him up and-"

"Enough." The other voice silenced, "Will you let me in or not?" Naruto felt the boy's chakra spike as he unleashed a portion of his killing intent, Naruto scoffed mentally.

"H-hai, Uchiha-sama." The boy heard the door unlock and it opened as Sasuke walking in.

"Yo teme." Naruto greeted lamely with a small wave of his good hand.

"Dobe." The boy replied as he stood for a moment at the end of the bed, "So what's this all about?" He asked with a small sigh.

The blond opened his mouth to respond but closed it quickly.

"Well?"

"I umm."

"Dobe, spit it out." Sasuke crossed his arms, glaring.

"You know the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked uncertainly.

"The demon fox that attacked the village and the Yandaime killed?" The black haired boy responded swiftly.

"Yeah." Naruto smiled awkwardly and scratched his whisker marks with a finger, "It wasn't killed…"

"It wasn't?"

"Er no?"

"Well where is it then?" Something akin to exasperation flashed in the Uchiha's eyes.

"It's in me." The blond replied and moved his hand to scratch the back of his head.

"It's in you?" Sasuke echoed, "Don't be stupid Dobe, how can it be in you?"

"It was sealed by the Yandaime inside me, I think." The boy answered.

Sasuke went quiet as his eyes dropped to the floor, his brown furrowing slightly.

"Teme?" Naruto called out, his voice laced with worry.

The boy gave a quiet 'hn' and closed his eyes.

Abruptly, he turned and walked towards the door, placing a hand on the handle.

"Teme! What're you doing?" Naruto shouted as he sat up in his bed.

The Uchiha paused while opening the door, a small smirk on his face, "Ramen." He answered and stepped out of the room.

The blond grinned widened as he fell back onto his, "Fucking teme." He muttered.

Naruto sat in silence for a moment before he swung his legs over the side of the bed, stepped lightly across the cold tile floor and peeked out of the room.

Seeing an empty hallway, he crept out of his room and made his way to the reception.

Behind the desk, sat a bespectacled middle-aged lady, her light brown hair scraped back into a tight ponytail.

"Um…" Naruto began as he looked over the counter.

The woman looked up, and paused as she stared at the blond, then frowned and looked down, "Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'd like to know a room number," He answered tentatively, "Please," He hastily added.

"I can't give out that information." She shuffled the papers she was signing and then moved them to the side.

"Why not? Their names Ayame and Teuchi Ichiraku!" He placed his hands on the desk.

The woman sighed and gave the boy a pointed look, "I can't give you their room number because visiting hours haven't begun yet and you're not family."

"But, there are like my family…" Naruto replied lamely.

"We both know that's not true." She replied blankly.

"Oi they are! Ayame nee-chan and Teuchi oji-san are my precious people, that's basically family!" The boy near shouted as an angry crease formed on his forehead.

"It may 'basically' be family, but it's _not_ family."

Naruto opened his mouth, "I there a problem here?" A calm voice sounded from behind him before he could speak.

"Hokage-sama!" The receptionist greeted with a slight gasp, "Not at all, I was just telling," She gave the boy a quick glance, " _Uzumaki_ here, that visiting hours haven't begun and I can't give him the room number."

"Well, I don't see the problem with that." He replied with a smile as he looked down at Naruto.

"But Hokage-sama, the hospital has rules and-" she tried desperately.

"Miyako-san," He interrupted sternly, his soft tone remaining, "That'll be all."

"Hai Hokage-sama," She replied meekly.

"Now then Naruto-kun, shall we?" The Hokage asked as he took as step forward and looked back at the boy.

Naruto nodded happily and stepped in line as the two made their way down the hallway, "Wait, what about the room number Jiji?" He asked suddenly.

Hiruzen simple tapped his temple with a knowing smile and a small silence fell over the two.

"So, Naruto-kun." The boy looked up at the old man curiously, "How are you feeling?"

He grinned softly, "I'm fine Jiji, you know I heal quick." He said.

"I wasn't referring to your injuries." The Hokage amended quickly, "How are you feeling about your tenant?"

"My tenant." The old glanced briefly at the boy.

"The fox," he replied quietly.

"Oh," Naruto's expression fell as he his gave drew downwards, "I dunno, fine I guess." He shrugged, "I mean it explains a lot of things."

The Hokage nodded as the two entered a stairway and began climbing the stairs.

"But Jiji, why didn't you tell me?" the boy asked, hurt flashing in his eyes.

Hiruzen sighed and his aged showed in his eyes, "I was trying to protect you my boy." Naruto's eyebrows rose in confusion, "I wanted you to lead a normal childhood… But things don't always go the way they're planned it seems." The man paused and looked out a window that stood above the landing between the stairways, "I'm truly sorry Naruto, and I know it has been hard." He looked at the boy.

"It's okay Jiji" The boy gave a sudden wide smile, the boy turned, looking out the window, "My childhood has been shit, but I've made friends and I have people who like me for me, so it's okay." He said simply.

"That's a wonderful view Naruto-kun." The old man started walking towards the stairs again, "Now why don't we go see Ayame-chan and Teuchi-san."

Naruto nodded with a grin and followed the man up the steps and into a hallway. There, they made their way past doting family members and rushing doctors who all stopped and nodded to their Hokage.

The old man stopped outside a door, "This is it." He said with a slight wave of the hand.

"You're not coming in Jiji?" The boy asked.

The man gave a small baritone laugh, "No my boy, I thinks its best you speak with your friends alone." He smiled.

Naruto nodded in acceptance and stepped into the room after giving a small, "Ayame nee-chan?" he called as he spotted the girl sat upright in the bed, looking out the window.

The girl turned and the boy felt a sharp pang through his chest as he saw the bandages attached to her cheeks.

"Naruto-kun! I was wondering when you'd come by." She greeted with a kind smile.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked in a small voice.

"Yes Naruto-kun, only scratches." She answered, her eyes softening.

"And they didn't," The boy paused and the girl's eyebrow rose curiously, "You know, do anything weird to you, did they?" he questioned carefully.

Ayame's gaze fell on her lap where she played with her fingers, "They didn't, erm," she blushed slightly, "Go far." She then looked up with a sad smile, "You saved me before they did anything worse."

The blond nodded and paused for a moment, "And what about Teuchi Oji-san?" he asked.

"He's fine, just resting." She said as she pointed to opposite her where the old man lay sleeping, bandages wrapped tightly around his head.

The blond looked over with worry in his eyes before nodding, his mouth moving wordlessly.

"Narut-"

"I'm sorry! Ayame nee-chan." Naruto suddenly shouted, "I'm really sorry." He repeated slightly quieter, "Because of me, you and Teuchi oji-san got hurt, and I-"

"Naruto-kun." This time Ayame interrupted, "It's not your fault."

"But I-"

"Naruto-kun. It's not your fault." The girl reassured with a smile.

"But what about…" the boy began as his hand drifted down to his stomach.

"Tou-san and I already know about that, we don't care." The girl answered knowingly.

"Really?"

She nodded and rose her arms towards him, "Come here, Naruto-kun."

The boy stared for a moment, his eyes wide before he stepped forwards between the arms of the girl.

Ayame smiled and closed her arms around the boy, bringing him closer so that his head was resting on her chest, her nose tickled by his blond locks.

"It's okay Naruto-kun." She mumbled lightly into his hair, "It's okay."

The boy wrapped his arms awkwardly around the girl returning the hug, and like a bursting dam, his shoulders began to shudder as fresh hot tears poured down his cheeks, reflecting an unfathomable sadness and an overwhelming sense of acceptance.

* * *

Techniques:

Mizukiri - water dagger

Suijin-me - Water god eye (i'm not sure this a direct and proper translation however it sounds better and is more concise than others)

Suifuton: Suzushi ryusei - water-wind release: cool meteor (not a kekkai genkai but just a combination technique, i read on that Narutopedia thing that wind strengthens water techniques so created this)

Yo thanks for readin, hope you enjoyed.

Don't forget to fav, follow and review if ya feeling it.


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